I just acquired these compasses among a box o stuff at a garage sale and I can’t figure out how one of the legs works. It looks like a needle nosed tweezer that you pinch together with a knurled knob. I can’t get it to hold a lead so it must be for some other purpose. Anybody know what I’m missing?
All I want to do is draw circles. I tried to find a picture online but my google-fu is not strong today and I don’t have anywhere to post a pic.
Thanks.
Are you sure it’s a compass and not a divider missing the point?
there are compasses that will have a clamping groove for a mechanical pencil lead, the lead may have to be a larger diameter.
some compasses can also have an ink nib, you may have an adjustable width nib.
Eureka! Yep, I have an ink compass. I found a pic easily once I knew the name.
That was fast. Gotta love The Dope.
Thank you.
Those things are the single biggest reason for CAD!
It’s amazing to me that anyone was ever able to create a presentable drawing using an ink nib - I always ended up with blobs and uneven lines.
